Meadowbank starts new season with promise

Meadowbank United’s South Canterbury football league season got off to the perfect start as both the men’s and women’s teams picked up convincing wins on Saturday.

The men’s team, this year playing in the competition’s second division, beat Pleasant Point 3-0 at the Oamaru Showgrounds, thanks to a pair of well-taken strikes from Esteban Erdody and Daniel Brokenshire and an own goal.

Meadowbank coach Karl Burke said the win was the ideal way to kick off the club’s 2017 season.

“We’re very pleased. They showed what we’d been working on at training and that’s come out in the game.

“We were able to play positively for quite long periods of the game, and they [Pleasant Point] were chasing the ball a bit.

“They flagged first, basically – they tired before we did.”

Burke was impressed with his team’s ability to take its goal-scoring chances against a Pleasant Point side he described as one of Meadowbank’s traditionally strong rivals.

He believed the team’s first-up win would give it plenty of belief heading into Saturday’s home clash with Northern Hearts reserves.

“It fills us with a lot of confidence – to know we can come up with a strong performance.”

Meanwhile, the Meadowbank women, who finished runners-up in their competition last year, sealed a comprehensive 4-1 home win over Mountainview High School.

Caitlin Lee found the back of the net twice for Meadowbank, while Rebecca Whittet and Twyla Kingan each bagged one goal.

The side’s next match is another home game against Pleasant Point on Saturday.